BAC runners win schools county XC medals and selection for national championships  

BAC runners win schools county XC medals and selection for national championships  

Junior BAC athletes competing in two different schools county cross country championships over the last week won three medals and secured several qualifications to compete in two upcoming English schools national XC championships.

Eight BAC runners competed in the Bedfordshire Schools County Cross Country Championships, held over hilly courses in Ampthill Park on Wednesday February 5, having qualified for that event through district championships last month.

A ninth, Theia Freeston-Bull, ran in the Hertfordshire Primary Schools XC Championships a few days earlier, having also qualified through a previous district championships, and put in a great performance to qualify for that age group’s national championships.

Two of BAC’s medals at the Bedfordshire schools’ county championships were won in the same race, the Intermediate Boys. Oliver Weddell continued his strong recent form to finish an impressive 2^nd and he was followed home by club mate Sidney Hammond who produced his best cross country run to date to claim a brilliant surprise 3^rd place.

BAC’s third medal winner at Ampthill Park was Lauren Bone who maintained her series of strong performances this cross country season with another fine run to claim a great 2^nd place in the Junior Girls race.

All three medal winners should now be selected for the Bedfordshire teams (8 athletes per age group) to run at the English Schools National XC Championships at Ardingly Showground in Sussex on Saturday March 15.

BAC’s other runners in the Bedfordshire schools county championships, where most of the fields comprised 45-50 runners, also put in some great runs. They were Henry Knox, Intermediate Boys, 35^th; Isla Anderson, Junior Girls, 23^rd; Austin Milner, Junior Boys; Theo Milner, U-13 Boys; and Ross Bone, U-13 Boys, 22^nd.

A few days earlier, on Saturday February 1, Theia overcame cold, muddy conditions and a 1,600-metre course at the Hertfordshire Primary Schools XC Championships, held in Bushey, to finish 4^th in the Year 5 Girls race and win selection to run for the Hertfordshire schools team at the National Primary and Year 7 Schools XC Finals in Northampton on Saturday March 22. Theia is a member of BAC’s Little Bees group and has this season been running XC for the club in Chiltern League U-11G races.